


5 Reasons Why Katsuki Yuuri Can't Skate Alone and Zero Reasons Why He Can

by ight (orphan_account)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Injury, self doubt, there isn't much angst, victor being shook, victor is in luv, victor's point of view, yuuri being good with kids, yuuri is too but they dont know that lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 21:57:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8914390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ight
Summary: there is a list, unwritten yet universally known, as to why Yuuri cannot skate alonethis is just a few reason why





	

There are times - many, many times - when Victor Nikiforov feels a kinship to his former coach.

In no way is he saying that Yuuri is anything like how he was back when he was learning underneath Yakov. In fact, sometimes he's even felt a little embarrassed on his past self, comparing the maturity of his pupil to himself at the same age. Even though Yuuri is only four years younger than himself, he clearly shows intense self-discipline and can easily exceed any expectations Victor sets on him, in comparison to his own past of suffering from lack of motivation and only just meeting the expectations of his peers. Yuuri, however, is an ever-peaking skating prodigy, one that Victor has publically stated will be the one of the best the judges have ever seen.

Of course, for all the contrasts the two men have between each other, there are some undeniable parallels that make Victor want to tear his ever-thinning hair out. Despite what many would believe about Yuuri - including Victor at times -, Katsuki Yuuri is a rebellious little devil that makes it seem as though he lives to do what he's told not to. The temptations and long standing habits that Yuuri fails to kick make up a whopping 80% of the reasons why Victor sighs so much. Binge eating to comfort himself after a major loss is understandable, yet also is a major setback for the pair, as a week is lost to get Yuuri back in shape to go on the ice. Staying up late online and calling Phichit because he doesn't know how to fall asleep unless dead tired is a little worse, but self-inflicts its punishment the next day when Victor has Yuuri run two miles on a good four hours of sleep, so it's not what he would consider the worst habit of Yuuri's.

The one habit that Victor absolutely cannot stand is Yuuri's stress skating.

This usually happens when Yuuri begins to crack under the pressure of upcoming competitions, Victor has figured out in the last year and a half. It happened before Victor became his coach, and would continue long after they both officially retired. While it can sometimes be beneficial, allowing Yuuri his space away from the loud hot springs and in the cool enclosure of the rink, something about it makes his coach itch underneath his skin. Perhaps it's because he knows that Yuuri is upset - stressed and underestimating his own ability that Victor knows he has - and is taking it out on overexerting himself on the ice without Victor to watch over him. 

It is because of this reason that right before the Cup of China, in their second Grand Prix together, that Victor looked Yuuri straight in the eyes and told him "I forbid you from going on the ice without me being there as well."

A part of Victor feels as though this is a little excessive. Yuuri only does this to clear his head, and of course he needs space to think before the competitions. But Victor simply has a bad feeling about Yuuri going out on his own, fully aware of how dangerous it can be when a skater's mind is wandering when trying to complete a new routine. Yuuri in particular tends to over-rotate when thinking of something distressing, which Victor fears will one day result in a injured ankle of sorts. He explains this to Yuuri, who looks somewhat peeved when Victor asks for his set of keys to the Ice Castle. While a part of Victor wants to just shove them back in his hand to stop that pout, he will overcome the temptation in making his Yuuri smile for the satisfaction of knowing that he's keeping his skater safe.

Of course, he forgets to tell this to Yuuko, who apparently was very willing to give Yuuri a temporary pair of keys to the Ice Castle when he asked late one night, one week before the Cup of China.

Victor wakes up around 7 AM, as he usually does. The morning bird soaked in the hot springs for fifteen minutes to warm himself up before walking back to his chilly bedroom (momentarily brought back to the ice baths he used to have as a child, running from the sauna to the cold snow and back again). Dressing himself in his black sweater and sweatpants, he finally enters the communal dinning room, where Mari was already cooking for the day with Makkachin sitting at her heels, ready to catch any food she might drop. At the sight of his dog, Victor released an excited gasp.

"Good morning, Makkachin!" he exclaims, falling to his knees with open arms as his dog excitedly bounces over to lick his owners cheek. 

"Good morning to you, too." Mari drawls with a small smile, eyes not leaving the stir fry she was preparing. Victor rose to his feet, stretching with a smile. 

"By any chance, would you know where Yuuri is? We have to start training in an hour, and I haven't seen him around yet." at this, Mari looked up at Victor, lips pursed as she tried to come to some sort of decision in her mind. After a moment of contemplation, she released a great sigh, turning back to the pan to mix around the vegetables inside.

"He told me to tell you that he went for an early run, but by the way he was acting all jittery and carried his duffle bag with him, I'm assuming that was just a lie." she tossed some salt onto the sizzling pan. "I'm guessing that he asked Yuuko for her keys yesterday when they went for drinks, and went to go skate off his nerves. It's what he always does, no matter what you tell him."

A dark feeling curled around Victors ribs, some strange mix of irritation and disappointment that had him huffing as he sat at the table, grabbing an apple that sat in the fruit bowl in the center and biting into it. His lips curved down and his eyes narrowed as he stared at the wall, some air of stubbornness surrounding him.

"Are you not going to go get him?" Mari asked, a little surprised at the reaction. Victor continued to stare at the wall, crunching his apple with some strangely defiant force.

"He can skate until it's time to start practicing again, if he wants to so bad." another crunch. Mari sighed, distributing her stir fry into two bowls.

"An apple won't be enough energy to get you through today." she stated, placing a bowl in front of him and sitting to his right. His bad mood temporarily quelled at the sight of good food, he smiles at her, albeit a little forced, as he gave her his thanks. 

After eating the food and resting in his bed for another twenty minutes, Victor got up and put on his plush jacket to go into the cold. While he wasn't quite as upset as he was earlier, he was still irritated that his request had been ignored. Yuuri hadn't gone to the rink alone in the past three months of training, at least not that he knew of.

Victor frowned as he walked across the bridge to the Ice Castle. That's what was really bothering him, he admits to himself. That Yuuri would try and lie to him, go against what he asked and put himself in danger for it. Victor scoffs at himself. Yes, Yuuri is his pupil, and he does have a right to be upset that he broke one of the few rules given to him. However, he knew what was the cause of this specific type of irritation came from. He also knew that he had no right to feel this way, for as much as he referred to Yuuri as his, that didn't change the fact that he was not, indeed, his. Not how Victor wanted him to be. 

Ah, he arrived at the rink already. Brushing the silver strands from his eyes, he exhaled a deep breath to expel any unnecessary thoughts of his. He was Yuuri's coach, and needed to act as such. He imagined what it would be like if Yakov made a move on him at age 25, and shook with disgust. He truly loved his former coach, he did, but he simply never wanted to even think of that situation. That, he told himself, is what Yuuri must feel like.

Victor entered the Ice Castle, walking straight to the ice rink with a stride that he hoped would say "irritated-and-disappointed-coach" although at this point he just wanted to see if hi- Yuuri was okay, and if maybe he came through a breakthrough of some sort. However, while there were definitely signs of skating occurring, Yuuri was nowhere to be seen. 

Resting a hand on the door to enter, he peered onto a specific spot on the ice only a few feet from the entrance. A deeper groove was scraped into the ice, like someone skid to a very hard stop. With a hitch in his breath, he noticed the smear of red on the ice, turned pink from dilution. Looking down, he realised a small little finger-sized smudge of red on the door.

"Yuuri!" Victor shouted, whirling around to look into the stands, half expecting some sort of crime-drama to unfold where the romantic interest is draped over some benches, tragically injured. Of course, this was not the case, but his mind continued to jump to the worst case scenarios as he surveyed the room around him. Concluding that Yuuri wasn't there, he turned and ran to the locker room.

"Yuuri?!" he called as soon as he burst through the door. A small squeak came from behind a row of blue lockers, revealing where Yuuri was hiding. Victor came around the corner to see Yuuri sitting with both his skates off, cross-legged on a bench as he held a bloody tissue on his nose. A small flurry of red tissues surrounded him. Victor ignored them, kneeling right in front of his skater with urgency. He ignored the wide eyes and startled tension that came from Yuuri when he lightly curled his fingers around his chin, tilted the younger man's head back to inspect the damage.

"What happened?" Victor questioned, words soft yet urgent. Yuuri's wide eyes looked to the side, cheeks heating as he thought about his error.

"I, uh-" Yuuri tried to pull away, which Victor let him do after a beat of thought. "I tried to work on the toe loop in the second half of my free, since I always mess up the timing after the step sequence." Victor nodded. This was true, the step sequence was extremely difficult, meant to show off Yuuri's skill and exemplify the theme of fire that Yuuri had for this season. "I went in too fast, and I over-rotated and fell hard." Yuuri sniffed a bit, just out of discomfort for the clots on his nose but it just made Victor's heart squeeze a little. "I fell on my face kind of hard, and my nose started bleeding pretty bad."

"Is your ankle okay, though?" Victor asked, leaning back on his heels to gently wrap his fingers around the ankle he imagined Yuuri used to stop himself. Yuuri twitched a little, but Victor hardly noticed.

"It's okay, it was a little overexerted but it's nothing bad, honestly." Yuuri responded, sounding despondent. Victor looked back at his downcast eyes, another frown on his lips.

"You're overexerted." he stated. Yuuri tensed up, alert suddenly. He leaned in fast, grabbing Victor's hand on his ankle with the hand not holding a tissue to his nose.

"I'm fine! It was just an accident, honestly. I'll be okay once my nose stops bleeding and we can practice more!" Yuuri exclaimed, with a voice that clearly showed his false bravado. Victor sighed, holding his hand with both of his own.

"Yuuri, you snuck into the rink after I specifically told you not too." Yuuri looked a little crestfallen, but Victor pushed onward. "And I know you, I know that you only fall this bad is when something is on your mind. That's why I didn't want you to come here alone, I didn't want you to push yourself too hard from stress." Yuuri gripped his hand harder, curling into himself a little. Victor released his hand, pushing some of the hair out of Yuuri's face and looked into his eyes.

"I don't want to see you get hurt, Yuuri." he said earnestly "I have faith in your skill and talent, but I need you to have faith as well, okay?"

Yuuri nodded, relaxing the slightest bit, but not as happy as Victor would have liked. He smiled a little.

"Don't look so sad, my little katsudon, I'm not angry at you for breaking my rule." he paused for a moment. "Well, I am, but you've punished yourself, so I will allow it to slide without major punishment." at this, Yuuri cracked a smile.

"Will the punishment be going shopping with you and carrying your bags around town, because I'm not sure I can bear that again." he joked. Victor exaggerated a gasp, grasping both Yuuri's hands, bloody tissue and all.

"A perfect idea! You're so smart Yuuri, how could I live without you?" Yuuri laughed at this, making Victor smile. He rose to his feet, pulling Yuuri with him. He turned, collecting Yuuri's skates and tossing them in the black duffle Yuuri brought with him. With a heave, he tossed it over his shoulder, groaning in complaint.

"Ahh, I'm too old to be lifting such heavy things!" he proclaimed, turning to look at the confused Yuuri with a soft smile.

"You're only 29, Victor." Yuuri reminds him absentmindedly "And what are you doing?"

"Like I said, you're working yourself too hard. I think it would be better for you to just take a break for today." Victor explained, walking to the door. "I want you to relax with me today, since after next week we will be busy non-stop."

He held the door open for the younger man, who was standing with a strange look of wonder on his face. He settled with a smile, the sort that makes him look serenely happy and makes Victor's chest warm. Yuuri walked up next to him, easily grabbing the duffle from his shoulder and walking past him.

"Then let's go, Yuu-topia doesn't open until the afternoon today." he said, with a small smile. Victor smiled back at him, feeling soft to his core, and followed him outside.

Yes, they got an alarmed call from Yuuko, who came in to find the bloody ice and locker room, but her anger was quelled with a promise of a signed autograph from Otabek and Yurio. It only gave the pair something to laugh at, curled around each other on Victor's bed late in the afternoon, as the sun set. They spoke with excitement, imagining the next celebration, which Victor vowed to get Yuuri drunk at again. Eventually, Yuuri fell asleep in the midst of showing him Totoro, sprawled out on the right side of the bed. Victor shut his laptop, and contemplated waking Yuuri up to go to his own bed. Instead, he reached a hand out to lay it flat across Yuuri's back, feeling the warmth of sleep and the beat of heart, each inhale and exhale. He imagined his own body syncing up to that, and decided that he will be selfish, tonight. He will allow himself this.

**Author's Note:**

> yall how was this i haven't written a fic since like 2011 rip ff.net  
> no actually tell me whats up with this bc i haven't even looked over it i just write this as a stress reliever  
> continue? hmu with comments and kudos y/n


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